Coin-actuated change-machine.



T. I. POTTER.

com AGTUATED CHANGE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1911. I 1,063,589, Patented June 3, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

5/ 1 A fforfleys T. I. POTTER.

COIN AGTUATED CHANGE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.24, 1911.

1,063,589. Patented June 3, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

,l/V/f/vesses. m/enfor T. I. POTTER.

COIN AGTUATED CHANGE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1911.

1,063,589. Patented June 3,1913. Q

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

W/f/vesaes Z 1 1/%7 for ltd THOMAS IRVING ror'rn'n, or PORTLAND, OREGON.

com-acro'a'rnn CHANGE-MACHINE.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented June 3, 1913.

Application filed March 24, 1911. Serial No. 616,673.

i all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS IRVING Po'rrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Actuated Change-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

Thisinvention relates to change making machines, and is especially designed for the purpose of returning change or coins of smaller denomination for a deposited coin of large denomination,the amount of change returned being automatically determined by the-size of the deposited coin, thus, for the deposit of a dime, two nickels may be returned; forthe deposit of a quarter, three nickels and a dime; and for the deposit of half a dollar, a quarter, three nickels and a dime. The machine is particularly designed for use in connection with the so-called pay-as-you-enter cars, so as to avoid the necessity of the conductors handling any of the passengers money, his function in conmotion with the change making machine being simply to see that good coins are deposited, and that spurious coins are rejected, and to manipulate the operating lever I whereby the necessary power is supplied for working the mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein one type 'of the machine is illustrated, Figure 1 is a front elevation with the front wall of the casing removed; Fig. 2 is a top plan. view with the topo the casing removed; Fig. 3 is a section on t i e line 3+3 of Fig. l, but with parts in section and elevation, as though viewed from a point indicated generally by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4: is a front elevation substantially corresponding to Fig. 1, but with the parts in operated position: Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the coin ejecting mechanism in the position assumed when operated by a twenty-five cent coin, for which change is required; Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation on an enlarged scale, of a lock for preventing the operation of the mechanism.

Like numbers indicate the same parts in all the figures.

The machine of the present invention con-v templates a coin chute into which coins for.

which change is required are deposited, said chute having within the machine two branches, one guarded by a gate which is opened for the rejection of spurious coins,

and the otherguarded by a gate which must be-moveda distance dependent upon the size of the coin passing through the chute, the movement of said gate being utilized as the means whereby change of the desired amount will be ejected by the machine and returned to the passenger or person who has deposited the coin of larger denomination. The mechanism, while controlled by the deposited coin, is preferably operated by a le ver or handle manipulated by the conductor or attendant in such way as to force the deposited coin to operate the before mentioned gate, and through such operation efiect the control and preferably also the operation of the coin ejecting mechanism.

The machine illustrated is preferably pro. vided with a rectangular casing 10, a large portion of the front wall of which is formed by a glass or other transparent plate 11, to

permit the interior mechanism and coins to be viewed, as will be readily understood. Immediately adjacent the inner side of the front'wall of the casing, there is provided a coin chute 14, one wall of which is largely formed by the aforesaid transparent or glass plate 11, and the rear wall of which will hold a coin deposited in the chute in upright position parallel with the front wall, where it can be readily seen, and by such inspect-ion: its character determined.-

At its lower end the coin chute 14 is divided into two branches l5 and 17, respectively, the branch 15 leading out at one end of the casing for the discharge of spurious coins, while the branch 17 leads down and discharges into a coin receptacle or drawer 12 inthe bottom of the casing. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the branch 15 of the chute is guarded by a gate 18 preferably in the form of a bell crank lever pivoted at 19, while the branch 17 is guarded by a gate 38 carried by a cross shaft 37 mounted in a bracket arm 36 at the front and in a suitable hearing at the rear of the casing. Wren in normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the two gates 18 and 38 form a converging guideway for a coin deposited in the chute 14, and the operation or opening of the gate 18 will permit the coin to pass down through the branch 15 and out of the machine, while the operation of the gate 38 will allow the coin to pass down through the branch 17 and into the coin receptacle 12.

The gate 18 is preferably controlled by the conductor or attendant and may be opened for the discharge of spurious coin, while the. gate 38 is not under the direct control of the attendant but is adapted to be operated by a deposited coin which is forced down past the same by the conductor or attendant; thus the extent of movement of the gate 38 is directly dependent'upon the diameter or size of the deposited coin, and through the medium of mechanism to be presently described, the movement of gate 38 is caused to operate the coin ejecting mechanism, and to determine the total value of the change ejected by the machine in return for the deposited coin.

Various means will at once occur to those skilled in the art, whereby a coin deposited in the chute may be pushed down past the gate 38 so as to operate said gate, and as' illustrated, a pusher or carriage 32 is pro-' vided, which travels in a guide or slot 34 in the rear wall of the chute and is adapted to engage the upper edge of the coin, and to force the same downwardly between the gates. This carriage 32 may be conveniently guided in its guideway or slot, by pins 33, extending into the slot, and it is drawn upwardly or held in normal position by a spring 35'. For depressing it, an arm 29 mounted on a transverse shaft 23 is provided with a slot 30 preferably open at one end in which a pin 31 on the carriage operates and the shaft 23 is rotated or oscillated through the medium of a crank arm 28, connecting link 27, arm 26 on transverse shaft 24, and hand lever 25 extending out through a slot in the end wall of the casing.

By depressing the hand lever 25, it is obviousthat the carriage 32 will be forced downwardly, and contacting with the coin indicated in Figs. 1 and 4 by the number 39, will force the coin down from the position indicated in Fig. 1, to the position indicated in Fig. 4:, where the coin will be discharged from between the gates and drop into the receptacle 12.

To lock the gate 18 during the manipulation last above described. a disk'22 is provided on the shaft 23 and cooperating with a concentric portion of this disk is a pin or roller 20 on the gate 18, the concentric portion of the disk and pin or roller being adapted to remain in contact during any downward movement of the hand lever 25. but should said handle be lifted or moved upwardly from its normal position indicated in Fig. 1, the said pin or roller 20 will enter an eccentric slot 21 in the disk, whereby the gate 18 will be swung upwardly on its center 19 so as to open the branch 1!) of the chute and allow the coin to pass out. The

conductor or attendant is thus able to return to the passenger a coin which is not acceptable or to discharge from the machine spurious coins or slugs should a passenger attempt to pay for his transportation by the use of such illegitimate means.

To lock the gate 38, when a spurious coin is to be rejected, the shaft 24 is provided with an arm 65 which may. if desired, constitute a continuation of the hand lever 25. and said arm 65 at its inner end is provided with a concentric face 67, which, when the hand lever is elevated, travels downwardly behind a roller 66, carried by an arm 40 on the shaft 37, upon which the gate 38 is also mounted, thus during the upward movement of the hand lever 25 the gate 38 is locked in position, but upon downward movement of the hand lever 25 the concentric surface 67 moves upwardly out of engagement with the roller 66 and the gate is free to be swung by the downward movement of the deposited com.

At one side of the chute 14 there is arranged a series of coin stacks or holders 52. a portion of the front wall of each stack being preferably cut away so that coins held in the stacks may be seen through the transparent front plate of the casing, and said coin stacks are sized for holding coins of proper denominations for returning change of value equal to the value of deposited coins within the capacity of the machine. As illustrated, there are six coin stacks, the first three from the left hand side being adapted to contain nickels or five cent pieces. the fourth to contain dimes, or ten cent pieces, the fifth to contain quarters or twenty-five cent pieces, and the sixth to contain half dollars or fifty cent pieces. Tntersecting the base of each of the coin stacks is an ejector slide, there being a single ejector slide 54 intersecting the bases of the first two stacks, a single ejector slide 5:") intersectin'g the bases of the third and fourth stacks, and separate ejector slides 56 and 57 intersecting the bases of the quarter and half dollar stacks. These slides are of proper thickness to correspond to the thickness of coins which it is desired to eject. and each contains an aperture, best seen in Fig. 5, which, when the slides are in normal position, registers with the stacks, and when advanced into operated position, registers with discharge apertures in a plate above which the stacks and slides are placed. The operation of the ejector slides will therefore transfer coins from the bases of the stacks to the discharge apertures. allowing them to drop down into a hopper 13, the lower por tion of which is in the form of a receptacle on the outer side of the casing and from which the passenger may remove the change returned for the deposited coin.

The arm 40 on the shaft 37 is utilizedin the preferred apparatus as the means whereby the movement of the gate 38 is caused to operate the coin ejecting mechanism, said arm 40 to all intents and purposes being a port-ion rigid with the gate 38 and partaking of all the movements of the latter.

At its lower end the arm 40 is provided with a pin 41 working in a slot 42 in one end of a connecting link 43. The link 43 is jointed to a lever arm 44 pivoted at one end on a bracket 45 and at its ?opposite end jointed to a second lever 48. The connection between the levers 4-4 and 48 is preferably a loose connection formed by a pin and slot 47, and at its upper end the lever 48 is pivotally supported on a bracket 50 projecting inwardly from the end of the casing. lower end the lever 48 is provided with a slot 51 in which works a pin 64 on a master slide 63 by which all of the ejector slides are operated. The master slide 63 has a longitudinal movementtransversely of the ejector slides 54, 55, 56 and 57. The connec tions betweenthe master slide and the ejector slides are preferably formed by pin and slot connections, so as to efiect the operation of the ejector slides in succession and to a proper extent to cause the discharge of the desired coins as determined by the movement of the gate 38. There is preferably a separate slot and pin connection for each ejector slide, thus the slides are provided with pins 58 and the master slide is provided with slots 59, 60, 61 and 62, each hav ing an inclined or diagonal portion 59, 60', 61 and 62' arranged to act successively on the pins 58. As shown in Fig. 5, the slides 54 and 55 have been fully operated for the discharge of three nickels and a dime in return for a quarter deposited in the chute 14. but the'slide 56 has not been operated sufliciently far to effect the discharge of a quarter from the quarter dollar stack. Inasmuch as the gate 38 will be operated by the deposit of a quarter or twenty-five cent piece only far enough to effect the operation of the ejector slides to the point indicated in Fig. 5, change in amount equal only to twenty-five cents will be discharged. The deposit of a fifty cent piece will cause the gate 38 to be operated to a greater extent and will effect the discharge not only of three nickels and a ten cent piece. but also of a twenty-five cent piece. The deposit of a dollar will cause all of the ejector slides to be operated and the discharge of change equal in amount to one dollar.

in order to avoid the necessity of providing a master slide of great length, the slots 61 and 62 open out at the end of slide 63, the ejector slides 56 and 57 being held back in normal position against stops 57 by springs 57.

To lock the machine against operation, a key actuated lock 68 may be provided, the

At its 7 bolt of the lock having a head 69 adapted to close the slot while the handle 25 enters a notch 70, all as shown clearly in Fig. 6.

In operation, a coin, twenty-five cents for instance, deposited in the chute 14, drops down to the point, indicated by the circle 39, where it is arrested by engagement with the gates 18 and 38. The conductor or attendant inspects the coin through the transparent front of the casing, and if itis unsatisfactory, or for any reason should be returned to the passenger, the handle 25 is lifted upwardly, thereby opening the gate 18 and locking the gate 38. The coin will drop by gravity through the branch 15 of the chute. Should the coin be satisfactory, he depresses the hand lever 25 and through the connections "formed by the arm ing this movement of the coin, the gate 38 will be forced back to the position indicated in Fig. 4, and the arm 40, which is rigid therewith, through the connections, formed by the link 43, lever arm 44 and lever 48 will operate the master slide 63 toward the right. The master slide 63 will. as before stated, be operated to the position indicated in Fig. 5, and if it bea coin of less denomination, a ten cent piece for instance, the master slide 63 will be operated only sufficiently far to eflect the discharge of two five cent pieces by, the operation of the ejector slide 54. If it be a coin of larger denomination, the master slide will be moved a correspondingly greater distance, and will efi'ect the discharge of change in amount equal to the value ofthe coin deposited.

It is obvious that the details of the mechanism may be changed to a considerable eX- I tentwithout departing from the real invention, and it is further obvious that by eliminating one or more of the coin. stacks and coin ejecting slides,'or, even by omitting coins from the desired stack, the change returned to a customer may be made to equal the value of the deposited coin, less the amount ofhis fare. If the fare should be five cents. bv omitting coins from the first stack, the change returned would be the proper amount when the fare is deducted from the value of the coin deposited.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-v ters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a change making machine, the combination with a plurality of coin stacks and coin electing mechanism for discharging coins from each of said stacks separately, of a coin deposit chute, a gate intersecting the passage for coins, through said chute positioned to arrest coins of all denominations at the same point and to be moved distances proportional to the diameter of the coins arrested thereby, and connections intermediate said gate and coin ejecting mechanism, whereby upon the operation of the gate by the passage of a coin through the chute'ejeeting mechanism determined by the diameter of the coin and extent of movement of the gate is operated.

2. In a change making machine, the combination with a plurality of coin holding stacks, and ejecting mechanism for discharging coins therefrom separately in succession, of a coin deposit chute, a gate intersecting the path of travel of coins through the chute, positioned to arrest-coins of all denominations at the same point and to be moved distances proportional to the diameter of the coins arrested thereby, connections intermediate said gate and said ejecting mechanism, whereby the ejecting mechanism is operated and coins discharged as determined by the diameter of the arrested coin when the gate is displaced by the passage of said coin through the chute, and means for forcing the coin to displace the gate.

3. In a change making machine, the combination with a plurality of coin holding stacks and ejecting mechanism for ejecting coins from each stack, of a coin deposit chute, a gate intersecting the path of travel of all coins through the chute said gate having a coin engaging surface inclined in the direction of movement of the coin through the chute and positioned to arrest coins of all diameters at substantially the same point. connections intermediate said gate and ejecting mechanism, and a movable carriage for advancing the coin to displace the gate in proportion to the diameter of the coin and thereby selectively operate the ejecting mechanism.

4. In a change making machine, the-combination with the coin holders and ejecting mechanism for discharging coins from the holders in succession, of a coin deposit chute, a pivoted gate intersecting the path of travel of a deposited coin through the chute, connections intermediate said gate and eject-- ing mechanism, whereby the discharged coins are controlled by the extent of movement of the gate as determined by the size of the deposited coin, and means whereby the coin may be positively forced through the chute and past the gate interposed therein.

5. In a change making machine, the combination with the coin holders and ejecting mechanism for discharging coins therefrom. of a coin deposit chute, a gate interposed in the path of travel of a deposited coin through the chute, connections intermediate said gate and ejecting mechanism whereby the ejecting mechanism will be operated in proportion to the degree of movement ofthe gate as controlled by the size of the deposited coin, a carriage for advancing the coin in the chute to displace the gate, and a hand lever for operating said carriage.

6. In a change making machine, the combination with the coin holders and ejecting mechanism for discharging coins therefrom, of a coin deposit chute, a differentially movable gate intersecting the path of travel of a coin through the chute, positioned to arrest coins of all diameters at substantially the same point and adapted to be moved different distances by coins of different diameters, a slide controlling the operation of the coin ejecting mechanism, and connections intermediate said gate and slide for positioning the latter in accordance with the movement of the gate.

7. In a. change making machine, a coin chutehaving a single entrance and two discharge branches, two independently movable gates one normally closing the entrance to each branch inposition to direct a coin into the other branch, coin ejecting mechanism controlled by the movement of one of said gates and means for manually operating the gates independently of each other.

8. In a change making machine, the combination with the coin holders, ejecting mechanism for discharging coins therefrom, coin deposit chute, gate intersecting the path of coins of all diameters through the chute at the same point, and connections intermediate said gate and ejecting mechanism, of a second gate which holds all coins in position to cooperate with the first mentioned gate and controlling the discharge of coins from the chute, and a hand lever controlling said second gate whereby any coin may be discharged from the chute without operating the ejecting mechanism.

9. In a change making machine, the combination with the coin holders, ejecting mechanism for discharging coins therefrom and a single coin deposit chute having two discharge channels, an independent gate intersecting the entrances to each of said discharge channels to arrest coins of all diameters at substantially the same point, connections intermediate one of said gatesand the ejecting mechanism for controlling the latter in. accordance with the diameter of the coin cooperating with the gate. and a hand lever controlling the other of said gates, whereby a deposited coin may be caused to operatev the ejecting mechanism or be discharged from the machine without operating said ejecting mechanism.

10. In a change making machine, the combination with the coin. holders, ejecting mechanism for discharging coins therefrom, and a coin deposit chute having two discharge channels, of gates controlling the assa e of coins into said dischar e channels'and arresting coins of all diameters at snhstantially the same point, connections intermediate one of said gates and eg'ecting mechanism, a carriage for forcing'the coin to advance in the channel for operating said last mentioned gate a distance proportioned to the diameter of the coin cooperating therewith, a hand lever, connections intermediate said hand lever and carriage, and

connections operated by said hand lever cona trolling the other of said two gates, whereby a coin may be discharged from the machine without operating the ejecting'mechanism.

l1. lln a change making machine, the combination with the coin holders, ejecting mechanism for discharging coins therefrom, coin deposit chute having two discharge channels, separate gates guarding the en trance to each of said channels and operating to position'co-ins of all diameters at substantial] the same point, 'and connections interme iate one of said gates and the ejecting mechanism, of a hand lever controlling the other .of said gates, a carriage for advancing the deposited coin, operated by said hand lever, and locks for the respective gates controlled by the hand lever, whereby a movement of the hand lever in one direction will lock one gate and a movement of the hand lever in the opposite direction will lock the other gate.

12. In a change making machine, the combinatign with -the coin holders, ejecting mechanism for discharging coins therefrom embodying separate slides, and a master slide controlling the ejecting slides to operate the sameselectively, a coin deposit chute having two discharge channels, pivoted gates guarding the entrance to said channels respectively and for positioning coins of all diameters atsubstantially the same point, connections intermediate one of said gates and said master slide, a hand lever, connections intermediate said handv lever and the other of said gates, a carriage operated by the hand lever for advancing the-coin to operate the gate controlling the ejecting mechanism, and locks for said gates released respectively by movements of the hand lever in opposite directions.

THOMAS IRVING POTTER.

. Witnesses:

TI J. GLovnR', N. M. Dnnnme. 

